Cuba Pays Tribute to Ecuadorian Hero Eloy Alfaro

A group of children from the Miguel Fernandez Primary School placed wreaths by the bust built there in 1928 to perpetuate the memory of Alfaro.

At the end of the ceremony, Zambrano recalled his history and recalled details of his life of struggle and how after 40 years of battles, he became president of Ecuador on June 5, 1895.

The assassination of Alfaro, a great admirer of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti, was followed by a conservative, neo-liberal, oligarchic, submissive and pro-imperialist period in Ecuador, until a young man named Rafael Correa, great-grand nephew of Eloy and today President of the Republic, emerged from Quito University, said Zambrano.

The plaque, created by artist Roberto Lopez, reads: "As President of Ecuador, Alfaro sent a letter to the Queen Regent of Spain on December 19, 1895, demanding Cuba's independence." It also notes that he "raised his voice for our homeland and the peoples from Our Americas."

During the ceremony, Zambrano gave Cuban sculptor and architect Andres Gonzalez, the creator of the statue to Alfaro -recently unveiled in this capital by President Correa during his visit to Cuba- a diploma of recognition signed by the Ecuadorian Culture Minister, Galo Mora Witt, for his valuable contribution to the strengthening of the cultural bonds existing between the two peoples.

Eloy Alfaro was born on June 25, 1842 in the town of Montecristi, in Ecuador's Manabi province. He was assassinated on January 28, 1912, in Quito, the capital of that South American country.